First published in 1951 and again in 1959, Dal Stivens’s novel, Jimmy Brockett, is now republished as one of Penguin’s ‘Australian Selection’. Reading it, you find yourself being drawn into admiration of a man who is undeniably obnoxious.

How can one feel any sympathy for (not just interest in) a turn-of-the-century Sydney fights promoter whom we see fanning interest in a rigged contest, always making flashy appearances count, gradually mixing in wealthier circles, taking appalling financial risks but lessening the odds against himself by applying pressure in the right places, cagily self-confident in nearly all his dealings, blatantly manipulating journalists, and later, when in control of a newspaper, cynically influencing the vote and tastes of his readership by appealing to its lowest common denominator, corrupting the Labor Party and even attaining the rank of cabinet minister, and. finally, the dynamo exhausted, turning (inevitably) to philanthropy.